VOICE
in their own words Teenagers
Predict the Future
Text: Lisa
Morgan
Photography: Caroline
Parsons
Price: 1200 yen plus tax
Publisher: Kawade Shobo Shinsha
Special Features: Bilingual (English/Japanese),
strongly visual
Endorsed by: British Council, British Embassy
Pages: 136
ISBN 4-309-24268-5
Teenagers have seen the future. They have investigated new technologies, walked city streets, and witnessed major events ten, twenty, one hundred years from now - in their mind's eye.
They were participants in The 17s Project, an experiment to explore the future that lies in young people's imagination. From 1998 to 2001, more than one hundred and thirty teenagers took part in visualisation sessions that we held in seven countries. Fourteen nationalities are represented in all; almost a third are Japanese and British teenagers feature prominently too.
'Close your eyes, see the future, describe it.' This, in a nutshell, is what the exercises involved. "
The young people used visualisation to see themselves going forward in time ten, twenty or a hundred years. Descriptions and drawings of these visions are coupled with photographic and written portraits of each participant. The book also contains simple descriptions of these visualisation exercises.
Teachers can use them to help young people explore their own inner expectations of the future. 'VOICE in their own words Teenagers Predict the Future' is a useful stimulus for cross-cultural studies, creative thinking development or English language study.
VOICE is available in most
bookshops in Japan and will soon be published in Taiwan and Korea.
Read the publisher's pages
or buy the book in English
or Japanese.
Also available (ordering in English or Japanese) at http://www.amazon.co.jp.
Teachers' notes (in English) including class exercises are available by email from Lisa: